An emigration agent has been implicated for cheating two couples from Kalol and Kadi after luring them with a promise of migrating them to the US.
The agent Kamlesh Barot was produced in court and remanded in police custody for five days, Bhavtubha Zala, the investigating officer, informed the media.
The arrest was based on a complaint by Jignesh Barot, who claimed he was duped of Rs 8.90 lakh by Kamlesh. The other couple from Kalol had been cheated to the tune of Rs 7.32 lakh.
Incidentally, the Mehsana B Division police had booked Kamlesh for a similar offence in 2015.
Jignesh Barot said he and wife Vandana contacted Kamlesh Barot after seeing his social media account. Kamlesh reportedly ran a business called SK International. His social media account allegedly claimed he could send people overseas.
Kamlesh told Jignesh that sending them to Europe would cost Rs 20 lakh. The other proposal was that Jignesh could go to Europe alone for Rs 9 lakh to which he agreed. Kamlesh charged Rs 2 lakh first purportedly to get his visa done. He asked Jignesh to go to Mumbai to complete his visa process but told him later that his application had been turned down.
Kamlesh then offered to send them to the US for Rs 1 crore. To make his offer believable, Kamlesh agreed to receive the payment once they reached Mexico. They were instructed to board a flight to Colombo and keep $1,500 ready to illegally cross the US.
On the plane to Colombo, Kamlesh introduced them to Jayesh and Kinjal Patel, a couple from Kadi. From Colombo, the gullible families travelled to Jakarta where they were introduced to Rajesh Vira, allegedly entrusted with the task to take them to their destination, the report said. Kamlesh allegedly took Rs 6 lakh and $1,100 from Jignesh.
The report added that while Kamlesh returned to India, Vira took the four to the Indian embassy in Jakarta for stay permits. Vira asked them to manage their food which they couldn’t as they had exhausted their funds. With Kamlesh reportedly giving them unclear answers, the four demanded their money. Following threats by Vira and Kamlesh, they lodged a complaint against them after returning to India on July 24.
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